


90 Days

by purgatory-of-assbutts (phxntxsos)



Category: Once Upon A Time - Fandom
Genre: Breakup, F/M, Mutual Pining, So it’s all good, They get together in the end tho
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-02
Updated: 2019-09-02
Packaged: 2020-10-05 23:38:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20497259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phxntxsos/pseuds/purgatory-of-assbutts
Summary: In which Gold is oblivious, but he gets there in the end





	90 Days

**Author's Note:**

> So I was thinking maybe this start it off with and then another two chapters for Gold and Belle’s time apart, respectively.

It took Gold about six months to realize that he was, in fact, dating the librarian. The beautiful little librarian who had breezed into Storybrooke, all smiles and kindness, softness and light, small enough to make even him feel ten feet tall. Although perhaps that last one was due to the bright smile she always shined his way while he was in the middle of his rent collection rounds. She was a flicker of light in an ocean of annoyance and monotony and had seen through his snark and his snarls and eventually burrowed her way past his long-established walls and into his home.

  
The two of them were in at his house for what had become their weekly tradition of takeout in front of the television, followed by them moving to the basement where she’d read a book and listen to him spin. _It’s calming_, she said when he asked if she’d rather go somewhere else, _peaceful, comfortable. It’s nice to just spend time together._

  
Gold diverted his attention from his spinning wheel enough to hear her laugh at something Neal had said. Where his relationship with his boy had once been something fractured, fragile, it was now something, if not fixed, then at the very least on the mend, and he had Belle to thank for that, too. She’d noticed how his mood would darken after yet another fight and had gently prised his pain and frustrations from him; how’d they’d been close when he was small, how that closeness became stifling as he got older to the point that he’d left town after high school and never looked back. She provided a perspective not riddled with past hurts and misunderstandings to help him understand his son’s points and worked as a mitigator when past frustrations would rise up again and allowed for him to get to know his son and family again.

  
“Gold?” Belle said, interrupting his thoughts. “Neal wants to talk to you.”

  
He took the phone from her absently. “Hey, son. How’s it going?”

“Never mind that, Papa. When’re you gonna ask her to move in?”

“What?” Gold asked sharply, his attention now fully on Neal. “Who?”

He scoffed. “Belle, obviously. I mean, I was a bit iffy at first, considering how your last relationship went, but she’s great, Pops. Totally crazy about you. And you damn well feel the same way. How long have you guys been together, anyway? Five months? Six?”

“Yeah, six,” Gold answered, trying to understand what he was hearing. “Look, Neal, you’ve got it all wrong, son. We’re friends, yeah? That’s it.”

“Dad. Come on. I know you’ve been out of the whole dating thing for a while, but even you can’t miss it. She’s literally all you talk about. You’ve never sounded this happy before. Besides, Emma and I have a bet. You can’t let me down like this, Pops. Go on, ask her.”

“Bet? Wh- you know what, never mind. Goodnight, son. Get some sleep. Get your hearing checked, while you’re at it.”

“Yeah, whatever. Ask her, Papa.” Neal repeated insistently.

“_Goodnight_, Neal,” he said firmly, hanging up. He glanced over and saw Belle looking up from her book, smiling slightly.

“Neal and Emma have a bet?” she asked softly. “Is it about moving in together? He was asking me about that, too.”

“Yeah, well, good thing we aren’t dating, then,” he retorted, turning back to his wheel, not noticing how her expression shuttered.

“Um, I- uh…” she got up and gestured at the clock. “Do you want me to stay for a bit?”

“No, thank you. Feel free to head out, if you’d like.”

“Well, um,” she said, shifting uneasily. “I guess I’ll, uh—”

“I’ll see you around,” Gold promised.

“Alright, then,” Belle answered, tone more subdued than usual. He was too distracted to notice.

**Author's Note:**

> I coulda sworn I read something like this before, but I couldn’t find it so I just... idk, did it myself? Tried to recreate it? I wonder what it was tho.  
Maybe it was for a diff fandom ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


End file.
